The Road to Prosperity
by VespaRiderXephon-01
Summary: A slice of life comedy. Follow the struggling guild of ninja as they grow and walk the path to glory. Laughter, tears, and awkward moments abound on The Road to Prosperity! Pairings ShinoxSheena, Karenx? and more as it goes!
1. Introductions

Hello and welcome to my first Ragnarok fic! I hope you like it better thanI did (Think my writing style fluctuates)... Anyway, tell me what you think in a review, please!

Disclaimer: ...

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**The Road to Prosperity**

**Chapter 1**

Introductions

_Rune Midgard, a prosperous land that houses many cities, which in turn house many guilds. These guilds are in fact large centers of camaraderie, producing many skilled tradesmen, whether they be thieves or swordsmen, mages or acolytes, or even the mysterious guild of super novices._

_One day, a somewhat long time ago, these guilds received their one and only mission, sparking them into action, "Seek all the treasures of this land!" All at once, the guilds sprung into action, intent on finding glory and riches for their community. It is in the middle of this that three new guilds emerged, eager to join the chase for glory. These three guilds, those of gunslingers, tae kwon, and ninja, all short on men to stand up to those daunting giants, must first find brave men and women to join their ranks._

_Thusly, we have the guild of ninja, who, after spending large amounts of resources to pull ahead of the other two, find themselves preparing for their first foray into the road of glory…_

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CRASH

"GODDAMMIT SKEIN!" Melkin yelled. Shino just sighed as he sat in a corner. This was going to be long.

Apparently, Skein had, for the second time in five minutes, toppled the statue of the king. It was a wonder that something hadn't snapped off yet. "What the hell are you doing! If those diving goggles impair your vision so much then just take them off!" Melkin yanked off the diving glasses.

"Hey, give those back, they're stylish!" Skein complained, reaching out for his goggles.

"Hah! Stylish my ass! These things would make Fabio look like a dork!"

Fabio, who just walked through the door with a bag filled with various weapons and armor, asked, "What about me?"

Skein and Melkin were too dumbfounded at the coincidence to answer. After a few minutes of completely awkward silence, Fabio sighed and said, "Sheena and Karen should be back soon with the food." Dropping the bag in a corner, he stalked off into the boy's room (1) quietly.

Skein, Melkin, and even Shino were staring as Fabio closed the door of his room. "What's up with him?" Melkin asked.

"Dunno. I'll go find Sheena and Karen." Shino said and disappeared out the front door.

"Hold up! I'll come with you!" yelled Melkin, but was stopped from disappearing as he noticed Skein, once again, tottering around with his diving goggles on. "GODDAMMIT SKEIN! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT THOSE GOGGLES?"

------With Shino------

He was walking casually down the street, heading to the marketplace and just hoping that he wouldn't see the people he was looking for. It was getting on into the evening he wanted more time to just enjoy the relative quiet and watch the sunset from the streets.

It seemed to him that the gods were not too keen on that idea, as at that very moment, the very two females he was 'looking' for walked past him at the intersection, both looking very lost and at the same time so engrossed with finding their way that they didn't see the young furling ninja.

Now, Shino was not normally one to pull pranks, or any variety of jokes, for that matter, but he couldn't help but try to sneak up on them. _This is just training, to test myself. Yes._ He kept chanting that in his head, trying to rationalize his quite unnatural urge. His stealthing skills held true as he was now almost on top of the two kunoichi.

Sticking his head in between the two and interrupting their in-depth conversation, Shino said, "When were you two planning on coming back to the guild house?" with the straightest face he could muster (which was pretty damn straight).

The girls took a moment to process the fact that Shino was there. Right there. In between them. He hadn't been there a second before, had he? "EEEEEEEEEEEEKKKK!" Apparently, the two had worked through their initial shock, only to slam their elbows right into his head.

"Gah!" Shino fell to the ground, clutching the aching bump on his head, "What the hell was that for!" He yelled.

The girls gasped as they realized who they hit, "Shino! Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't realize it was you! You have to realize that sneaking up on us isn't the way to go, you know."

Shino just grunted and nodded his head. He was in too much pain to do otherwise. Seriously, those girls had really bony elbows.

Well, anyway, Shino recovered and the three made their way back to the building which was to double as their clan building as well as their temporary housing. He opened the door only to find himself met with a terrible sense of déjà vu. Melkin was screaming incoherently while chasing Skein (holding a suspicious pair of diver's goggles) around the toppled central statue. The girls only stared dumbfounded, that is, until Sheena managed to work up enough courage to ask Shino, "Hey, what do you think is going on here?"

Shino didn't know how to answer, as he himself wanted to forget the reason, so he just played dumb, "I don't know. And frankly, I doubt anybody would want to know anyway." The two girls nodded and dropped the bags near the door next to the bags that Fabio brought in earlier, scurrying around the walls into the room they shared. Shino decided that it was a good idea, and after putting the equipment into a safer corner and stuffing the food into storage, retired into the boy's room as well, leaving Skein and Melkin to work out their differences.

Soon enough, they burnt themselves out, opting to forget the whole tuff, fix the statue, and sleep.

------Early next morning------

DING DONG DANG

Karen awoke from her peaceful slumber as angry as an Andre that was getting stolen from (2). Her mission: to assassinate whoever was at the door.

She reached the front door after much fumbling (she couldn't navigate well due to her sleep-caked eyes) and opened the door with a kunai in hand, prepared to shut whoever was out there up for good. Needless to say, both parties were surprised, Karen because a royal carrier was at the door, and the royal carrier because Karen looked like an enraged sasquatch, with her mussed amber hair and bloodshot eyes. Why, in her current state, it even looked like she had small fangs!

Well, seeing as how she'd likely be executed for killing this guy, she calmed down, though she did still look stupendously angry (though only on the inside ). So, it was understandable that the man's voice was shaky as he said, "H-hello. M-m-my name i-is I-Ichiban B-Benri (3). I-I am h-here t-t-to g-give you t-this o-o-official d-dispatch" He said, handing a scroll to the still irate kunoichi.

Karen was only annoyed even further by his voice, though, and so instead of replying with a thanks, or other word of gratitude, she slapped a limp hand against her chest and said, "Great, and s-stop st-st-stut-t-tering l-like a r-retaaaarrrd." She rolled her eyes up and lolled her head about as she did this. Before the carrier could piece out a retort, she slammed the door in his face and turned around to read the scroll, eyes widening as she finished.

Having read the scroll, she ran around knocking on the doors and making a general racket, waking everybody up, yelling, "GUYS! GUYS! ANOUNCEMENT! WE'VE GOT OURSELVES OUR FIRST FREAKIN' MISSION, BABY!"

The boys and girl walked slowly out of their rooms in their pajamas, rubbing their bloodshot eyes and trying to smooth their ruffled hair. Sheena was fastest and shuffled up first, mumbling incoherently, still half asleep. Karen waited patiently for the boys to fully emerge from their rooms before telling the obviously good news.

They boys did get there eventually, even though it did take them ten minutes to fully comprehend where they were supposed to be and shuffle/waddle over there. And by then Karen's ire had returned in full and she was glaring at them with a tic in their eye. How did the men respond, you ask?

"Dude, your eyes are really bloodshot." They all said in unison, sounding as if they all just experienced some kind of life-changing epiphany.

It was all Karen could do to not pound them unconscious. For the moment, she just shot back, "And yours aren't?" (Yeah, weak, I know. But it's morning, so forgive her for not being at her wittiest.)

Karen ignored whatever they said in their defense and bulldozed right on to the main point. "Ok! So, just a few minutes ago, I received our first official dispatch from the king!"

This served to wake up her companions a little. They weren't by any means totally functional yet, but they were paying mild attention and could retain everything she said.

"What're we supposed to do?" Sheena asked dumbly, still working to clear the fog from her mind.

"I was just getting to that." Snapped Karen, "Apparently, he wants us to go to the mines near Einbroch in the Schwartzvaldt republic to retrieve a rare mineral called the…Crimson heart's diamond?"

This six ninja just kinda sat there, staring cluelessly at Karen for a few minutes. It was obvious that none of them knew what the Crimson heart's diamond was, but was hoping the Karen knew (she didn't know either XD).

Fabio spoke. Everyone know Fabio spoke. Do you know why everyone knew Fabio spoke? Because it is common knowledge in their guild that Fabio was the tallest and buffest, and thus had the honor of having the deepest and most sexy voice. Yes, people can differentiate by voice sexiness. "Do you know what the Crimson heart's diamond is?"

Karen just melted at his voice, and she would have done everything in her power just to keep him talking (Fabio tended to be quiet. Nowhere near as quiet as Shino, but still quiet nonetheless). However, she couldn't lie out of good conscience, and so had to reply no.

Sheena sighed, "Well, we can at least assume that the crimson heart's diamond is red, and thus be able to find it. Don't worry though, if we can't find it then it's alright. There'll be more missions in the future."

Karen was in her face immediately, "NO! We cannot fail this mission!"

Sheena laughed nervously and raised her hands in supplication, trying to calm her friend down, "Ehe…ehe…ehehehe… Why not?"

"Why not! WHY NOT! Because this is our first mission, that's why not! Don't you realize that this mission will affect our futures! How many missions come our way (and subsequently how much money we make), as well as how many people come to our guild instead of some other one all depend on if we do well on this mission!"

Well, that realization depressed everyone. A dark, gloomy aura hung around the group as their heads drooped. "Ah…" Karen grunted _I said something wrong, didn't I?_ She sweatdropped.

Trying to dispel the oppressive atmosphere, Karen said, "Well then! Let's get ready, pack our weapons, and meet in at the doors of the building in about an hour! Got it?" Everyone nodded and retreated back into their rooms.

------1 hour later------

The gang of merry ninjas met in their battle gear and skipped off from Glast heim and towards the fields that would lead them to Al de Baraan, and from there, Juno, where they could take the airship toward Einbroch and from there ride the train to the mines. There were sure to be dangerous monsters on the way, and so they prepared for the worst and took extra orange and blue potions with them along with Fly and Butterfly wings.

It would be a long journey fraught with monsters and mazes, but readied with their best ninjutsu and weapon skills, the ninja were prepared.

And thus, the first mission of the guild of ninjas began.

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1) There are two bedrooms so far, the boy's room and the girl's room. The girl's room has two single beds pushed to the wall in the center with one nightstand between them, and a desk and dresser each on opposite sides (along with various paraphrenalia spread around the room). They boy's room has two bunk beds also pushed to the wall in the center, but instead of a nightstand there's just free space. The roomis spread with various tables and drawers filled to the brim with their stuff.

2) You know how Andre's are like theif bugs in that they take items? Yeah, I would imagine they get angry if you stole from them.

3) Ichiban Benri means #1 convenient in Japanese.

: These are only the current settings. There will be change as more recruits flow into the guild. On that note, because there will be more people. I am more than happy to include characters that reviewers suggest in their reviews. Just include: Name, Appearance, A small personality and background (bio), Ninja abilities (special skills, etc.), and anything else that you want me to know.

On a side note, where is the ninja guild based? (you know, where you go to test to become a ninja) And what is the test to become a ninja? If someone could tell me, I'd be really grateful.


	2. Mission Ho! Onward, to Einbroch!

This is chapter 2, my precious readers! In this, we discuss travelling, flying boats, and Karen! Enjoy

**Disclaimer:...

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Chapter 2

Mission ho! Onward, to Einbroch

Recap:

_The gang of merry ninjas met in their battle gear and skipped off from Glast heim and towards the fields that would lead them to Al de Baraan, and from there, Juno, where they could take the airship toward Einbroch and from there ride the train to the mines. There were sure to be dangerous monsters on the way, and so they prepared for the worst and took extra orange and blue potions with them along with Fly and Butterfly wings._

_It would be a long journey fraught with monsters and mazes, but readied with their best ninjutsu and weapon skills, the ninja were prepared._

_And thus, the first mission of the guild of ninjas began._

End Recap:

The group had been traveling in the forests of mjolnir for several hours now and a few have them have become…jumpy…to say the least, in anticipation of finally arriving at Al de Baran and finally being able to teleport themselves to Juno, where they would finally take the airship to Einbroch.

"That reminds me," Karen asked, ever the voice of reason, "Why didn't we just teleport ourselves to Al de Baran in the first place?"

The rest of them stopped and turned so fast that Karen swore all of them got whiplash (except Fabio, he was just too awesome to get whiplash in her eyes). Their eyes were so wide that their irises were practically drowned out (meaning it just looked like a sea of white). Needless to say, this really creeped Karen out. Wanting them to stop, stepped over to them, she waved her hand in front of their faces, "Hey, guys? Guuuuyysss?"

It didn't work, they were completely out of it, horrified at how stupid they were, even though that wasn't too much of a surprise. Unfortunately, this left an opening for the orc hero waiting in the vegetation to spring out and attack.

Of course, ninjas, in all their glory, are never surprised for long, and they quickly mounted an effective counterattack. Sheena, Karen, and Fabio set to work hitting the thing. Fabio melted into the shadows, continuing to appear and slash the hero in critical places before disappearing again. Sheena pulled and assortment of bladed throwing weapons ranging from kunai, shuriken, to even small forked tridents out of places both mentionable and not, throwing them with deadly accuracy at everywhere that wasn't armored.

While Sheena was being a human warehouse and Fabio assassinating like the godfather, Karen, well, wigged out. Screaming obscenities that no human should know, she reached into her pockets and in an amazing combination, disappeared into thin air, reappearing near a tree in the air, chucking all manner of…_things_ at it. Stones that she picked up, shards of bark from the nearby tree, dirt, precious follicles of Fabio's hair that she had been collecting from the shower drain for years, water bottles, combs, and, well, you get it. Although the occasional kunai and shuriken made it through, mostly it was just annoyance. Whether for the orc or the ninjas, it's impossible to tell.

What were Melkin, Skein, and Shino doing, then? They were hiding amongst the tree branches, like good little boys, sealing. Having finished, all three launched their heaviest attacks.

"Ninpou: Kamaitachi!" Shino called out mentally.

Melkin's voice rang through the air, clear as a bell, causing others to sweatdrop (he was a showy type, no?), "Ninpou: Raging Dragon Fire!"

Skein, also being showy (as well as being a secret admirer of Melkin), yelled out after Melkin, "Ninpou: Fallen Frozen Crystal!"

These jutsu came just in time, too, for Karen was starting to fall (and run out of things to throw), and the orc was preparing to dissect her. Melkin, a stream of fire with a dragon's head billowing out of his mouth, blew the orc of its feet, causing severe third degree burns around his stomach area, all but melting the skin off its bones at the heat of the concentrated beam of fire.

Next, Shino's jutsu conjured a tornado around the orc, sweeping him into the air and cutting gashes into its armor, completely getting rid of what was left of the orc's armor.

Lastly, Skein's spell caused a huge icicle to fall from nowhere and impale the orc through its painfully exposed stomach. Skein was overjoyed at this, because striking the killing blow meant that he got the first pick of the spoils! "Hoorah! I call the cool hat!" He ran up and plucked the hat neatly of the dead orc's head and put it on his head, "I am Vlad the Impaler! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Sheena was the only one obviously annoyed (Melkin doesn't count. He's always annoyed), "I hate it when I'm the bait." She muttered under her breath.

Skein, still high on success, put his arm around her shoulder and said, "Hey, don't fell down. Maybe next time, you'll kill'em! You know, stick one through the eye or something."

By now, a vein was seen clearly on her forehead, "Would you like that to be YOUR forehead?" She asked in a forced calm tone.

Brought out of his high by the dangerous vibes she was sending off, Skein finally got the hint and backed off with a squeak, resigned to hiding in the back of the group for the next few hours.

The group had finally, after an almost ridiculous amount of battles, made it to Al de Baran. Normally, this wouldn't be considered much of an abnormality. However, after that orc hero, there were almost no monsters worth killing. Just porings, drops, lunatics, fabres, chonchons, and those violin-wielding cricket things that no one really cares about.

Now, thoroughly annoyed and not even the slightest bit wounded after what must have been around 200 battles, the six ninja trudged into the city with the sun high above them. Of course, it was highly unusual for a ninja to actually show oneself in broad daylight, let alone a hunting party of six. In fact, it was so unusual that people doubted they were really ninja.

"Hey, are those really ninja?" A crusader 'whispered' to his partner, a knight.

"No way those are ninja, I can see them!" Some random thief whispered in awe.

"Heh, are you kidding? Those are definitely ninja. Failures at everything they are. Even stealth, their 'specialty'." A pompous assassin ghosted out behind the thief that spoke, causing said criminal (Why hasn't she been arrested for noobness yet?) to faint dead away.

Of course, none of the ninja took kindly to any of that talk, especially the assassin's, that cheap Arabian knockoff…

However, before some of the more hotheaded ninja could ahem give that assassin his 'passport' out of Rune-Midgard, they were rushed out by…none other than Karen! Apparently, that assassin's jeweled katars reminded her of the jewel they were supposed to obtain, and consequently the money they would get, which meant she could buy some jewelry and clothes and beautifying products, which she concluded would get her closer to Fabio, and thus end her days of having to secretly collect hairs (both from his head and not) to complete her shrine to him! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

All was for naught, though, as they neared the kafra representative, they discovered they had no money or tickets to teleport around with! That wouldn't stop them, though, for without even stopping, they drew their weapons and made their seals and 'coerced' the representative into teleporting them for free.

So, from Juno they made a beeline for the airport, and…well…paid the lady and went inside. In the hallway, all the ninja sweatdropped, "Wow," Skein said, "that was a bit…disappointing."

"I know," agreed Melkin, "I was totally thinking that they'd have this huge ridiculously intricate process of security."

"Yeah, yeah," Karen joined in, "like, one that would lead you around for miles, going through various lines and making you wait for like 3 hours just to make sure you won't do something potentially dangerous."

Then, all in unison, all of them said, "Huh." Just then, they all turned and stared at a fixed point on the wall. It was like in that moment, they all had one big notion of consensus, where they would all stare at that one point, like there was a camera there…or something.

Eventually (the airport had apparently built some kind of ridiculously long hallway just for fun), they came upon the door and exited the building to get to the…docks? Everyone just kind of stared at the airships (this being their first time seeing one), rather dumbfounded at what they saw.

Skein, being eloquent for a second, voiced their thoughts, "It's a boat."

A nearby crewmate, dressed in standard sailor clothing, who was carrying a large crate into said boat, stopped when he heard them, replying, "Yeah, what about it?"

Melkin, following Skein's lead, said, "It's a boat that flies."

By now, the sailor (noticing the implied insult), had the beginnings of a vein on his forehead. Nodding, he said once again, "Yeah, so?"

This time, it was Shino who spoke, "Why is a boat of all things flying? Rather, how can it fly?"

By now, another sailor, looking exactly like the first one excluding hair and eye color, came out to see what was up, "Are you blind or something? Can't you see the wings?"

"A boat does not fly because you stick two wings on it!" They all yelled in unison.

This caused the two sailors (who have, by the looks of it, been on that airship most of their working lives) to look at each other silently, as if they were holding a telepathic counsel. Finally, after three whole awkward moments, the two sailors said, "You have a point." Before walking off with whatever they were carrying, calling back out to them when they didn't follow, "Are you guys coming on or not?"

Of course, the ninjas, their faith in technology totally shaken by now, were at the very least extremely hesitant to even set foot on that dangerous thing, but did it anyway because Karen started going on about money, which scared them even more.

Thankfully, they arrived at Einbroch safely, only to get lost. After what should have been hours asking directions from people they couldn't understand because of the flu masks they wore (and they refused to take them off, too), they finally found the train just as it pulled in for its last run of the day.

From there, they took a short walk to the mines and camped out in front of the entrance, spending a night of fitful sleep there.

In the morning, the six ninja could be seen, staring at the entrance, trying to build up their courage (hey, this is their first guild mission, cut them some slack!)

"Well, this is it." Karen stated.

"Yeah." Replied Fabio

"Let's go for it all at once. No regrets, eh?" said Sheena, stretching her arms in preparation.

"Ah." Muttered Shino in assent.

"What are we waiting for! Let's go!" Shouted Melkin, full of gusto.

"Bleughhhh! Blach Bleouniughh!"

"WHAT THE HELL, SKEIN! STOP DRINKING ALL OUR POTIONS! YOU'RE NOT EVEN WOUNDED YET!"

"BLEAGH! BLEUCH BLOCH BLEUEEEEEEE!"

Sheena sighed, "Why do they have to start this so early in the morning?"

"I dunno," said Karen, "Those potions are pretty tasty, you know? I kind of sympathize with Skein."

Fabio joined in, "Yeah, I know what you mean. I just wish they'd have more variety."

"What do you mean?" Sheena asked.

"Well, you know how red potions are ALWAYS cherry flavored? Why don't they get strawberry or watermelon flavored ones too?"

"Ah, I see." Sheena said, putting her fist into her palm in realization, "Maybe it's to standardize things?"

"Nah," Karen shook her head, "Cuz then they would have standardized the texture too, right? I mean, red potions are thick and syrupy like cough medicine, while orange potions are like juice, yellow potions are much like milkshakes, while white potions are about the same as melted ice cream."

"Oh?" Sheena said in wonder, "What are blue potions then?"

"Carbonated soda."

"Huh."

Their conversation continued as the trio (plus Shino) followed Skein as he was chased by Melkin into the Einbroch mines. Really, a rather anticlimactic end after all that buildup, no?

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Once again, I ask my readers to review and contribute a character to be recruited after this mission.

While I'm still here, I feel like y'all might wanna know the build I made for my characters:

shino age, 18:  
level: 42  
job level:38  
skills: reverse tatami lv 1  
shadow teleportation lv5  
cicada skin shedding lv 4  
illusionary shadow lv 3  
way of the blade lv 1  
bright crimson fire lv. 3  
lightning spear of ice lv. 3  
wind blade lv. 6  
lightning strike lv. 5  
kamaitachi lv. 1  
vanishy slash lv 5  
shadow slash lv. 1

sheena, age: 19  
level:44  
job level:36  
skills: assassination training lv. 3  
shuriken throw lv. 10  
throw kunai lv. 10  
throw wind shuriken lv 5  
way of the blade lv. 2  
bright crimson fire lv. 3  
wind blade lv.3

karen, age: 20  
level: 36  
job level:32  
skills: assassination training lv. 8  
final strike lv. 3  
reverse tatami lv. 1  
shadow teleportation lv. 2  
shuriken throw level 5  
vanishy slash lv 5  
shadow slash lv 5  
throw kunai lv. 3

Fabio age, 21  
level: 40  
job level:40  
skills: reverse tatami lv. 5  
shadow teleportation lv. 5  
vanishy slash lv. 5  
shadow slash lv. 5  
assassination training lv. 3  
final strike lvl. 3  
shuriken throw lv. 5  
cicada skin shedding lv. 5  
throw kunai lv. 3  
illusionary shadow lv. 1

Melkin age, 20  
level:39  
job level:40  
skills: way of the blade lv. 10  
bright crimson fire lv. 5  
lightning spear of ice lv. 5  
wind blade lv. 5  
crimson fire formation lv. 5  
raging dragon fire lv. 10

skein, age 18:  
level:38  
job level:38  
skills: way of the blade lv. 5  
lightning spear of ice lv. 10  
wind blade lv. 5  
hidden water lv. 10  
fallen frozen crystal lv. 5  
soul lv. 3

Like it? Hate it? once again, please review!


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